Postwar Bulgarian Society and the Disputed Legacy of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878: Social Democracy, Russophilia, and the Politics of National Narrative in Post-Liberation Bulgaria
Postwar Bulgarian Society and the Disputed Legacy of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878: Social Democracy, Russophilia, and the Politics of National Narrative in Post-Liberation Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: By the late nineteenth century, socialism had emerged as a global ideological movement reaching the Balkan periphery. The adaptation of social democracy to Southeast Europe was a complex process, confronting not only underdeveloped social structures but also challenges stemming from the contested nation-building process. The article explores the role of the Bulgarian social democratic movement in shaping national identity and promoting democratization by engaging in the Russophile–Russophobe debates over Russia’s political and historical role in Bulgaria. These debates reflected a deep tension in post-Liberation society, oscillating between gratitude for Russia’s role in the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War and subsequent national independence, and widespread resentment over its opposition to the 1885 Unification. The article shows how social democrats’ participation in public debates not only helped incorporate socialist ideology into national society and politics but also influenced the shaping of collective memory by endorsing a project for a national identity independent of Russian influence. The study also demonstrates how social democrats’ involvement in the ideological controversy through civic initiatives such as demonstrations and commemorations fostered political modernization by encouraging the rise of mass politics and democratic engagement in post-Liberation society.

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